A Brief History of Complicated TV Moms

From the black-and-white Stepford sitcom wives of the 1950s to the layered, intricate potential murderers of 2017 prestige dramas, the idea of what a mother is (and how she's represented on screen) has changed drastically throughout nearly 70 years of television. Take a stroll through TV history for a look back at how the depiction of mothers has changed through the decades, from I Love Lucy to Big Little Lies.

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Lucille Ricardo

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Show: I Love Lucy (1951-1957)

Played by: Lucille Ball

The original TV matriarch displayed her physical comedy skills as a housewife who would rather have been on stage with her bandleader husband — and hijinks would ensue as she attempted to get there.

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Harriet Nelson

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Show: The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952-1966)

Played by: Harriet Nelson

Harriet, the actual wife and mother to her costars, was a singer in real life, but on the show she typified the '50s housewife — perma-clad in an apron and stuck in the kitchen most of the time.

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Margaret Anderson

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Show:Father Knows Best (1954-1963)

Played by: Jane Wyatt

The Midwestern housewife was, despite the title of the show, the voice of reason in this Norman Rockwell-esque home.

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June Cleaver

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Show:Leave It to Beaver (1957-1963)

Played by: Barbara Billingsley

The Cleavers were the idyllic American parents of the 1950s, and June was the archetypal housewife: immaculate hair and makeup, squeaky clean house, always taking care of her family.

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Donna Reed

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Show: The Donna Reed Show (1958-1966)

Played by: Donna Reed

Another example of the typical suburban homemaker mom in a feel-good '50s family sitcom.

This stay-at-home mom might've seemed like a typical homemaker, but she was revolutionary in a way that sounds trivial now (but was a big deal then): she wore — gasp! — pants, a sly F-U to the sexism of the era.

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Lily Munster

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Show:The Munsters (1964-1966)

Played by: Yvonne De Carlo

Although Lily was a nurturing stay-at-home-mom, the series managed to subvert the genre as a spoof of both monster movies and '50s sitcoms.

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Morticia Addams

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Show:The Addams Family (1964-1966)

Played by: Carolyn Jones

Morticia, on the other hand, was a sophisticated, worldly, witchy mom — more detached than other mothers of her time.

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Carol Brady

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Show: The Brady Bunch (1969-1974)

Played by: Florence Henderson

The story of a lovely lady who was bringing up three very lovely girls was actually one of the final retro-style family sitcoms to hit the airwaves.

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Shirley Partridge

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Show: The Partridge Family (1970-1974)

Played by: Shirley Jones

The musically inclined matriarch did what any grieving mother would do after losing her husband — sing backup with her children as they form a family band, then go on tour with them.

Clair was a lawyer, a dedicated mother, and a feminist icon and role model for an entire generation of women.

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Maggie Seaver

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Show:Growing Pains (1985-1992)

Played by: Joanna Kerns

Role reversal: In Growing Pains, it was Jason Seaver who was forced to base his psychiatry practice out of his home so wife Maggie could return to work as a reporter.

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Peg Bundy

Fox

Show: Married... With Children (1987-1997)

Played by: Katey Sagal

Though Peggy was a stay-at-home mom, she refused to cook, clean, or do any work in general — yet still remains one of the most beloved TV moms in history.

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Norma Arnold

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Show: The Wonder Years (1988-1993)

Played by: Alley Mills

As the matriarch on another nostalgia-fueled show (The Wonder Years took place in the late '60s), Norma was a housewife who longed for more. After eventually finishing her college degree, she began working at a software startup.

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Roseanne Conner

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Show: Roseanne (1988-1997)

Played by: Roseanne Barr

Not only did Roseanne work a blue-collar job, a first for a TV mom, she represented a type of down-to-earth working-class mother not seen before on TV.

In a groundbreaking storyline, the famously unmarried TV journalist got pregnant and not only decided to keep her baby, but also raise him alone.

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Harriette Winslow

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Show: Family Matters (1989-1997)

Played by: Jo Marie Payton

Harriette was the frank, honest wife of a cop (and, as the Director of Security at the Chicago Chronicle, a powerful professional woman in her own right).

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Marge Simpson

Fox

Show: The Simpsons (1989-present)

Played by: Julie Kavner

Sure, every character on The Simpsons has been the same age for 30 years, so there's not really any logic at work. But everyone knows Homer would've killed the entire family by now if it weren't for Marge cleaning up his messes.

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Vivian Banks

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Show:The Fresh Prince of Bel Air (1990-1996)

Played by: Janet Hubert-Whitten and Daphne Maxwell Reid

When Aunt Viv first made her TV debut, she was a hard-working professor who eventually earned her Ph.D. after dropping out of high school). She eventually became a more traditional stay-at-home mom after having a baby in later seasons.

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Cindy Walsh

Fox

Show: Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990-2000)

Played by: Carol Potter

Cindy was not only a loving mother to her own kids, Brandon and Brenda, she also took in plenty of her kids' friends, too.

The matriarch of the blended Foster-Lambert family ran a hair salon out of her home.

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Jill Taylor

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Show:Home Improvement (1991-1999)

Played by: Patricia Richardson

The common sense-filled counterpart to a buffoonish contractor and TV host, the smart, sophisticated, feminist Jill eventually went back to school to earn her psychology degree.

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Michaela Quinn

CBS

Show:Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (1993-1998)

Played by: Jane Seymour

Talk about unheard of: Dr. Quinn was a female doctor in the 1860s who settled in the Wild West, then tasked with caring for her dying friend's three children all while trying to prove that women, believe it or not, could be doctors.

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Patty Chase

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Show: My So-Called Life (1994-1995)

Played by: Bess Armstrong

Patty was the boss of the Chase house (literally, she was her husband's boss), and not shy about sharing her opinions. She and teenage daughter Angela clashed in a realistic portrayal of a mother-daughter relationship not often seen on TV.

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Debra Barone

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Show:Everybody Loves Raymond (1996-2005)

Played by: Patricia Heaton

The overworked stay-at-home mom not only had to contend with her husband doing approximately zero housework or child-rearing, she also had to deal with her in-laws constantly meddling.

The mom of seven and reverend's wife not only ran her large household, she also managed to work as the church's treasurer and even went back to school later in the series.

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Joyce Summers

The CW

Show: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003)

Played by: Kristine Sutherland

The mother of the chosen one remained supportive when she found out exactly what her daughter has been doing with her free time. Joyce's death was not only a devastating emotional blow for Buffy, but also a major turning point for the character.

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Miranda Hobbes

HBO

Show: Sex and the City (1998-2004)

Played by: Cynthia Nixon

When the partner-track lawyer became pregnant with the boyfriend she couldn't quite commit to, she considered having an abortion before ultimately deciding to have the baby (and eventually getting back together with Steve, too).

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Kitty Foreman

Fox

Show: That '70s Show (1998-2006)

Played by: Debra Jo Rupp

The nostalgia aspect of That '70s Show meant that Kitty wasn't confined to the role of homemaker — she was a nurse — but she still held her family together.

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Carmela Soprano

HBO

Show:The Sopranos (1999-2007)

Played by: Edie Falco

Technically a "homemaker" by profession, Carmela was both aware of her husband's mafia dealings and leveraged that power to her advantage — both in her marriage and outside of it.

Teen mom-turned-inn owner Lorelai was BFF with her daughter, whom she raised solo in a small Connecticut town.

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Nancy Botwin

Showtime

Show:Weeds (2005-2012)

Played by: Mary-Louise Parker

Selling drugs after the death of your husband could be considered a dangerous career move. It could also be considered enterprising!

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Tami Taylor

NBC

Show: Friday Night Lights (2006-2011)

Played by: Connie Britton

Not only did Mrs. Coach have some of the best hair on TV, she was also a patient, caring wife to her husband, mom to her daughters, and guidance counselor to Dillon, Texas. The fact that the Taylors' big move in the series finale was to support Tami's career embodies everything great about FNL.

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Betty Draper

AMC

Show: Mad Men (2007-2015)

Played by: January Jones

The repressed '60s housewife is a prime example of someone who married too young...and probably shouldn't have had kids in the first place.

One of the most hated characters on TV — for what? For not being OK with the fact that her husband was a drug dealer? For trying to protect her son and his future?

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Alicia Florrick

CBS

Show: The Good Wife (2009-2016)

Played by: Julianna Margulies

Not only did Alicia brush off her law degree to support her children after an embarrassing public scandal, she rediscovered herself in the process.

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Claire Dunphy

ABC

Show: Modern Family (2009-present)

Played by: Julie Bowen

The competitive Claire quit her job when she got pregnant with her oldest daughter, but eventually went back to work — and took over her father's successful closet business — when she realized she didn't want to stay at home anymore.

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Sarah Braverman

NBC

Show: Parenthood (2010-2015)

Played by: Lauren Graham

The free-spirited Sarah moved back in with her parents (bringing along her two teenage children) when she fell on hard financial times after getting out of her toxic relationship with her ex. After changing careers frequently, she discovered both a passion for photography and a new love in her business partner.

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Linda Belcher

FOX

Show: Bob's Burgers (2011-present)

Played by: John Roberts

The happy-go-lucky wife of the titular character is essentially an animated, modern version of an old-fashioned sitcom wife: she helps run the family business, does the majority of the housework, and provides emotional support to both her children and her husband.

Sure, some moms might seem irresponsible and poor decision-makers, but they still seem to love their children and act in their best interest. Not Cersei, who spawned the evil Joffrey and is in an incestuous relationship with her own brother.

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Cookie Lyon

Fox

Show: Empire (2015-present)

Played by: Taraji P. Henson

In an attempt to give her kids a good life, Cookie went to prison for most of their childhoods (what a catch-22). But when she returned to the family business after her time locked up, she intended to make up for all the lost time.

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